Karl Rove Called "War Criminal" at Book Signing

Karl Rove, the former chief of staff to President George W. Bush, held a discussion Monday night in Beverly Hills, California to promote his new book, "Courage and Consequences." But the 100 or so people who showed up for the event, perhaps unsurprisingly, weren't all fans of the polarizing strategist.

As CBS2 reports, one antiwar protester deemed Rove a "war criminal," while the co-founder of the group Code Pink, Jodie Evans, showed up with a pair of handcuffs and announced that she was planning to make a citizen's arrest. Evans said Rove "lied to take us to war" and accused him of "totally ruining the country."

AP

At one point, Rove was reportedly "shouted down and forced to leave the stage." One woman said she took confort in the fact that Rove is "going to rot in hell."

Rove, who appeared without security, countered that the behavior of the protesters was evidence of the "totalitarianism of the left."

"They don't believe in first Amendment rights for anyone but themselves," said Rove, calling one protester a "lunatic" and demanding that another "get the heck out of here." Organizers tried to keep the protesters under control, but order was never fully restored at the event, which cost attendees $40.

Rove ultimately decided to skip the book signing portion of the program. Watch what happened in the KCAL report above.